Godavari Pushkaralu stampede: Andhra Pradesh government has no specific reason for chaos
Hyderabad: The AP government has not yet come out with an official statement regarding the exact reason for Tuesday’s stampede at Rajahmundry. Senior officials as well as home minister China Rajappa have been avoiding queries on the issue, stating that everything will come out in the judicial probe ordered by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
However, the Opposition has been mounting pressure on Mr Naidu, blaming him solely for the tragedy. Officials, however, said that they would not allow the issue to be politicized.
Read: Godavari Pushkaralu stampede: Opposition guns for Chandrababu Naidu
When Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati could take a dip in the VIP ghat, why not the AP CM? That’s the question in everyone’s mind. Was he misguided by someone, that taking a dip at Pushkar ghat was more sacred? or was it his own decision? Officials at the Pushkar ghat admitted that one of the reasons for the stampede was “the huge deployment of police force when CM was there. They had pushed the crowd to the back and when he left, everyone was allowed in at a go”. “There was lack of planning and mishandling of the situation, but who will take the blame for this?” asked a revenue official.
Read: Godavari Pushkaralu stampede: Deaths not due to negligence, claims police
“When the main gates at Pushkar ghat were closed for two hours when Mr Naidu and his family were taking a holy dip, why didn’t the government or local police allow the thousands of pilgrims into the VIP ghat? This could have eased the situation to some extent,” a devotee from Vizag asked. “The Pushkar began at 6:21 am and everyone wanted to take a dip exactly at that time. When it was denied and they were confined to a corner, they became restive. After the exit of the CM, there was chaos,” another devotee said.
Lack of coordination among the district administration brass — mainly between the commissioner and urban SP- resulted in ground-level complacency, said informed sources.
